Frederick II of Germany

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (26 December 1194-13 December 1250) was Holy Roman Emperor from 22 November 1220 to 13 December 1250, succeeding Otto IV of Germany and preceding Conrad IV of Germany. He was also King of Sicily from 1198 to 1250 (succeeding Henry VI of Germany and preceding Conrad IV of Germany) and King of Jerusalem from 1225 to 1228 (succeeding Yolande of Jerusalem and preceding Conrad IV of Germany).

King of Rome and Jerusalem
Frederick was born on 26 December 1194, son of Henry VI of Germany and Constance of Sicily. He was born in a public square in Iesi, a town not far from Ancona, Italy, and he was baptized in Assisi. In 1196, Frederick was crowned King of the Romans as an infant, and his mother acted as regent for him. In 1220, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, and he set his sights on the Crusades and Italian politics. In 1225, he led the Sixth Crusade, signing a treaty with Sultan al-Kamil of the Ayyubid Caliphate that restored Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to the Kingdom of Jerusalem; Frederick became its king. On 18 March 1229, he was crowned King of Jerusalem, and his bloodless recovery of Jerusalem brought him prestige across Europe. However, his viceroy was forced to leave Acre in the 1230s, and Jerusalem fell to the Muslims in 1244.

Campaigns in Italy
Frederick focused on campaigning in Italy in the 1230s after his return from the Middle East, and in 1235 he reconciled the Hohenstaufen dynasty with the House of Welf. In 1237, he invaded Lombardy and defeated the Lombard League at the battle of Cortenuova, and he celebrated this victory in Cremona in the manner of a Roman emperor, parading the captured carroccio and an elephant to show his triumph. Frederick refused to accept the surrenders of his enemies, even though Milan offered him a large bribe, and in October 1328 he was forced to lift his siege of Brescia, during which his enemies attempted to capture him. In 1239, Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick, and Frederick made his illegitimate son Enzo King of Sardinia after expelling the Franciscan Order and Dominican Order from Lombardy in revenge against the pope. When Ferrara, a stronghold of the Ghibellines fell, Frederick captured Ravenna and Faenza later in 1239, and he let the city of Forli use the Hohenstaufen eagle as their coat-of-arms in gratitude for their support during his campaigns. In 1243, he besieged Viterbo when it rebelled against him, but the Guelphs were victorious against the imperial army.

In response to Frederick's campaigns in Italy, Pope Innocent IV sent money to Henry Raspe to rebel against Frederick, and in 1246 he appointed the traitor Henry "King of the Romans". Frederick had to deal with Henry's treachery as well as a revolt in Parma, and on 18 February 1248 the Lombards decisively defeated him at Parma, costing him Romagna, Marche, and Spoleto. In May 1249, Enzo was captured by Bologna at the Battle of Fossalta, and he remained a captive until his death in 1272. However, 1250 saw the imperials regain Ravenna, defeat Cardinal Piero Capocci at the Battle of Cingoli, and regain Romagna, Marche, and Spoleto. Frederick fell ill around the same time as these victories, and he died at Castel Fiorentino in Apulia.